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Microsoft allows Vista 'downgrade'

While there is always resistance by some to move to a new operating system, there appears to be particularly strong demand, especially from businesses, to stick with XP.

One of the challenges, for both businesses and consumers are Vista's hefty graphics and memory needs.

Lenovo, for its part, has details for its downgrade programme on its IBM ThinkPad Web site.

Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden said Dell has been offering businesses that have a Premier Page set up the option to order systems with XP, Vista or Vista with XP downgrade rights. There is no extra charge for the downgrade rights.

"We've been offering it and we're still offering it," she said.

HP, Gateway and others also still sell machines with XP on them, nearly a year after Microsoft first started offering Vista to businesses. Vista went on sale broadly to consumers in January, at which point XP largely disappeared from retail shelves.

However, demand for XP has remained. In April, Dell brought XP back as an option even on consumer PCs.

There is an issue, though, over how long PC makers can keep selling machines with Windows XP as the preloaded operating system. Microsoft is requiring large PC makers to stop selling XP-based systems as of 31 January, though some PC makers would like to sell XP machines for longer.

"We're all lobbying for it," Farris said.